


Hunt Justice

by hippydeath



Category: Robin of Sherwood
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-21
Updated: 2009-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-04 20:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hippydeath/pseuds/hippydeath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Hunt acts for the people and for the land until the Son returns.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hunt Justice

_They say that the Wild Hunt rides because Herne has no chosen Son. So instead, the Hunt acts for the people and for the land until the Son returns. They say that the way the Hunt acts is different than the way the last Son was, but they mutter, where the companions of the last Son cannot hear, that the Hunt is more effective._

Robert of Huntingdon, son of the Earl of Huntingdon, knows nothing of what they say. Cosseted away in his life of relative luxury, he pays little heed to what the servants and peasants say when he passes them, he has no reason to take any notice of what the foresters mutter.  
He is not Herne’s Son, and he was not in Sherwood forest to fire a flaming arrow into a pool, never heeded the words of an old man with a stags head on top of his own. He has no reason to care that lives are being slaughtered because he has refused to listen to the calling of the forest.

So the Wild Hunt rides.

Abbot Hugo de Rainault blesses another squad of armoured men who are to venture into Sherwood to root out more rebels, more peasants, more heathens. His brother stands in the background, rolling his eyes and tapping his foot in impatience. Sir Guy of Gisburne waits to the side, waiting to lead these men to their deaths with a hollow look in his eyes.

Maybe a few will survive.

In Wickham, Edward adds fuel to the rumours that the Wild Hunt rides to scare the soldiers and bolster the spirits of those who miss Robin. He doesn’t care who believes; who stays inside after dark, who watches for the shadowy figures, he knows that it is true.  
He knows that there are those who know Herne only as the benevolent forest lord, who can’t see the figure who blesses their crops each year as a dark and terrible master of the Hunt. It doesn’t matter. For now, they are safe from the Wild Hunt because of who they are.

A fog rolls in early to Wickham, and Edward knows the Wild Hunt will ride that night.

No matter what the Sheriff or his brother say, Sir Guy of Gisburne is less of a fool than they think. He knows and believes that something lives in the deep shadows of the forest, and he knows that sending his men out this late is a death sentence for most of them. One day, it’ll be his death sentence.  
He knows that the Wild Hunt rides and that no amount of blessings from the Abbot Hugo will save his men from it as it scoops up any who are foolish enough to look twice, to step from the path, who draw steel after dark in Sherwood.  
He’s seen the terror on the faces of hardened soldiers as they’re pulled into the Hunt and they’re lost forever.  
He takes his men only as far as they have to go to make a few pointless arrests, to rough a few men up and to spread some fear. He never takes them to Wickham after dark anymore.

They’re at Loxley, or what used to be Loxley, letting the horses rest, when the fog rolls in and the temperature drops. Gisburne tries to calm his men, but the quiver in his own voice betrays him. He orders them back to Nottingham, even the young ones who see nothing to fight and who will cause him trouble when they get back to the castle.  
Or who would, if they weren’t foolish enough to draw steel.  
They come through the trees from all directions; hounds and riders of shadow and fire, pulling the soldiers from their mounts screaming until their screams mix with the horn blasts and the baying of the hounds and their master rides from the trees on his black mount to lead them on to other game.  
Gisburne quakes, but he has broken none of the rules, and he will not be taken by Herne this night. He will suffer for his losses, and no doubt repeat it all again tomorrow.

Robert of Huntingdon watches Owen of Clun and Marion of Leaford and finally hears the call again. He finally pays heed to the stories that his foresters tell of dark shadows and ghostly hunting horns serving justice for the land and the people. He finally accepts that he is Herne’s chosen Son, and that the Wild Hunt cannot ride any longer.  
He will save Marion, and he will save the people, even the ones who seek to do him ill. From the oppression of their rulers and from the justice of the one who called him.


End file.
